


Thinking with the Thinkgineers

by konfuse



Category: Bob's Burgers (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Emotions, F/M, Gen, Humor, Meta, Missing Scene, Screen Reader Compatible, Screen Reader Friendly, Teen Romance, Teens being teens, Tina centric, Unresolved Emotional Tension, callback to earlier episodes, kids being kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:20:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29714997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/konfuse/pseuds/konfuse
Summary: "Sometimes Tina had to wonder if it wouldn’t be easier to just join certain activities instead of working so hard to avoid them. Maybe Louise would enjoy being part of the Thinkgineers in the end?After all, had they worked with them almost every time after school this week. All three Belcher kids, not just Louise. But it didn’t matter when and where it happened; as soon as Louise had put her plan into motion, she dragged Gene and Tina along, because it was always like that."—Tina being Tina still finds the positive side of this whole ordeal. She enjoys the work but not who she is working with. Or does she?
Relationships: Gene Belcher & Louise Belcher & Tina Belcher, Louise Belcher & Rudolph "Regular Sized Rudy" Steiblitz, Tina Belcher/Zeke (Bob's Burgers)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 9





	Thinking with the Thinkgineers

**Author's Note:**

> A little 'fill in' fanfiction for the episode "Prank you for being a friend". The idea is that the construction of the catapult takes a couple of days and that Louise likes to be in control, dragging her siblings along. That means that chances are that Zeke and Tina had some time together. Also Tina is always worrying. What is unusual is that Zeke also seems distressed throughout the episode (beside the fact that he does not want to be a Thinkgineer). This fic gives us one explanation for that.  
> Shout out to [barelyprolific](https://archiveofourown.org/users/barelyprolific) for beta-reading (every mistakes still in it is my fault) and for constantly talking about Zeke/Tina and Bobs Burgers in general with me. 
> 
> Disclaimer (bc why not): 
> 
> **This is a fanwork, from a fan for fans. No money is made with it and I claim no copyright of any of the used Characters.**
> 
> Everyone, please enjoy the fanfiction!

Sometimes Tina had to wonder if it wouldn’t be easier to just join certain activities instead of working so hard to avoid them. Maybe Louise would enjoy being part of the Thinkgineers in the end? 

After all, had they worked with them almost every time after school this week. All three Belcher kids, not just Louise. But it didn’t matter when and where it happened; as soon as Louise had put her plan into motion, she dragged Gene and Tina along, because it was always like that.

And Tina was used to it. Better this way than Louise trying to do that stuff alone. But this time Tina worried that Louise wasn‘t only dragging along the usual suspects: her siblings, the Pesto twins, Jimmy Jr., _Zeke_ and sometimes even Rudy – though Rudy was rarely asked to help in their more dangerous adventures – but the whole group of Thinkgineers, plus Kaylee. 

Even if Kaylee wanted to get taken out of school, the idea did not sit well with Tina. She didn‘t know why but it felt wrong. And then there was the danger of the plan failing and the whole group getting punished. And again it was no problem for the core group – probably – because all Belchers and Zeke already had their fair share of detention and being threatened with prohibition… but the Thinkgineers? One negative note in their file could cost them their future. These kids _liked_ extracurriculars. They probably wanted careers in the science field (they were little nerds after all) and maybe they were in danger of risking their future. 

No, Tina did not like the plan. And still she played along, doing her best to help build the catapult. For her family she was willing to do a lot.

Teddy provided them with material and tools and explained how to use them. Although Tina had been a bit nervous at the beginning, fearing that her clumsiness would hinder her on working effectively, she still managed. Mostly because the fear that one of the younger kids might get injured was stronger than the fear of her getting hurt. Surprisingly it also helped that Zeke, as the other older kid, seemed to know what to do. If she had been willing to give it a name she would have maybe called it comforting, to know she wasn’t the only one her age and that there was someone who wasn‘t afraid to use a saw and a hammer, and (even) seemed to know how to use them. 

It was even educational for everyone, Tina figured. Louise could probably use her experience from this adventure to manage even larger groups in the future. Gene mostly distracted the kids but also kept everything relaxed with his jokes. It motivated the children.

Not that Tina would ever tell Louise or Gene that they were basically doing extra school work right now… It could be really fun if the reason for all of it wouldn‘t be an awful prank. But Tina had no idea how to stop it. 

For that, she would need her own plan, one to outsmart Louise. But she couldn‘t think of any, and also other things distracted her. Things she was far from ready to face. 

At the beginning of the scheme Tina had considered asking Jimmy Jr. to join in their plan. But he was occupied with some girl, as Tammy had told her and Jocelyn had confirmed. So, she had to find other ways to ignore a very certain problem that arose more regularly recently. The fact that now physical closeness was added to recent changes of perception for a certain classmate… heck she sounded like a biology report. Anyway she was trying to to distract herself from being distracted, knowing exactly what was causing the distraction but NOT WILLING TO ACKNOWLEDGE IT. 

So, her thoughts continued to circle and she tried to deny all of it in an attempt to convince herself.

Of course her siblings were no help for that. Not that they knew about the non-infatuation. But they both took their roles rather serious and didn‘t really work. They left the heavy lifting to the Thinkgineers, Tina and Zeke. The older two mostly, holding up the pieces that were now nailed together and put into place. 

That was the physical closeness Tina kept being distracted about. 

"Okay. You can let go. Thank you!" The boy who had nailed the wood together piped up and both teens laid it down carefully. 

For a second Tina was glad to get away from Zeke, stepping back to immediately stumble over a piece of wood.

Falling was like a second nature to her, so she was reading herself, but instead she was pulled back towards the object of her non-affection.

"Careful there, girl! I gotcha!"

It was almost like a scene from a movie, Tina thought with surprise. Except that the pull on her arms kinda hurt, and she still fell, but forward on her knee, against Zeke – who obviously couldn‘t be the love interest – and she also lost her glasses from the impact. There was no longing gaze right after, but rather blind stumbling. Also, Louise started to shout that these things needed to be cleaned up because Tina was a walking, talking safety hazard, which caused Zeke to awkwardly chuckle while helping her up and the others to scramble to follow orders.

Besides all of that it was a rather romantic moment. Just with the wrong person.

And Tina absolutely did not miss how it felt when Zeke was holding her hand to help her up. And Tina was not feeling butterflies when her hand brushed his when he gave her her glasses. And she did not feel embarrassed saying “Thank you” and seeing an encouraging smile.

Nope. None of that.

"After this scare I think we all need some juice!" Louise announced.

"Good idea," Rudy wheezed a bit. He seemed worried. It must have shocked him.

"And some cheese and crackers!" Gene added. 

"If they have that. Hey T! Will you take orders and go get them?"

"Yes, of course," Tina dusted off her skirt, then looked around for a pen and paper to write them down. 

She ignored Zeke's expression that seemed disapproving for just a second and noted down his juice preference. Tina knew her youngest sibling and how protective she could become. Sending Tina away was not without reason, and one of the kids was tagging along with Tina to help carry the boxes. They closed the door behind them and Tina could hear Louise starting a long lecture about prank safety. 

With a smile Tina led the way towards the cafeteria.

—

When the duo returned, the rest were working on taping a bucket to one of the wooden strips and testing different rubber straps for their take-off power. 

Even though everyone probably heard them come in Tina announced their return: "Take a break. We brought you juice." 

She also threw a couple of bags with chips on the table for the kids to snack on, stepped out of the way before she was surrounded by the younger students. 

When she looked around she could see Zeke still putting away some of the tools. Of course. 

Her eyes did not linger any longer than necessary. 

Stepping up to him she held out one of the boxes: "Here you go, Zeke." 

"Thanks, T!" 

"And…," Tina reached in her pocket. "Here's a crazy straw, Zeke. Extra crazy, just how you like it." 

The straw wasn’t even that crazy but the craziest they had available and Tina had figured it would be a nice gesture. Zeke was doing a lot of work right now after all. He took it, glancing at Tina with a bit of irritation before his whole face split in a giant smile: "Wow! Thanks a lot T-Bird! You’re amazing!" 

"It’s nothing," she sat down a bit away to keep an eye on the rest of the group. She tried not to feel too embarrassed and avoided looking over at Zeke. She didn’t even know why she had taken the crazy straw. It was a very impulsive decision. And now she almost regretted it because it wasn’t like she cared for Zeke. Maybe a thank you for before? Yeah, that was a good reason.

Maybe she should be more clear about that because now he sat down beside her to drink his juice while Tina still fiddled to get the straw in. It was a good distraction and as soon as she got it right she also started to sip on her juice, avoiding a conversation. There was nothing she could talk about with Zeke, after all. 

"So, you think they will go through with it? With the prank?" His question was only whispered.

Tina didn‘t look over, instead took another sip of her juice box, keeping her eyes on the group of kids still discussing the rubber band that was supposed to cause the cockroaches to fly, while eating snacks. 

"To be honest, I have no idea," Tina shook her head slightly. "Louise can be pretty stubborn and I guess Kaylee too… though you‘d have to answer that, _Zeke_."

The end sounded more bitter than Tina had intended and she instantly felt remorseful. 

"Hey, I never got around to tell you, I’m sorry that your little fishes left you," He did sound genuine about it. Maybe because Tina knew he was. 

She sighed and started to play with the straw: "No need for that. It was my own fault. And as Louise said, I‘ll always be a big fish for those two." She nodded towards Louise and Gene.   
While Louise was arguing about something with Rudy, Gene dared one of the kids to pull his finger. 

"Must be great to have siblings so close to your age," Zeke mumbled, his tone a mix of defeat and adoring that had Tina looking over. That moment, she became way too aware that she was sitting _right_ beside Zeke. It was the first time she saw him so near with her new glasses and panic almost overtook her.

Not the best moment to remember _certain things_. 

Luckily Kaylee walked up to them holding a water bottle towards Zeke: "Hey, Zeke. Can you help me with that?"

"Sure thing," without any struggle and a broad smile he opened the bottle. 

"Thank you." 

The girl stepped back into the group again to talk to Louise and the smile on Zeke's face vanished again. He turned to look at Tina, who still stared. She cursed the fact that she could see his eye color so clearly (and that she actually liked the shade of brown). 

"You okay, Tina?"

"Su… sure. Cool, cool, cool." 

"Tina! Zeke! Over here! We need your freakish hormone-induced strength!" 

Rarely had Tina been more thankful for a disturbance by her little sister. Without even considering for another second, Tina basically fled to the group to help hold the wood, so someone else could mark where it needed to be cut. 

The work still continued for another day but they made good progress with the building, while Louise continued to scribble on the blackboard to figure out where to position it best.   
Tomorrow they planned to test it. 

—

The test went very well. The kids tried different kinds of rubber ropes to find the right one and also shot different projectiles, to test the cockroach scattering. The whole group cheered at the raining toy insects and toilet paper balls. 

The construction was a success and Tina used the emergency phone to film it – in bad quality – which made Rudy especially happy. Despite her worry Tina felt the excitement too. The Thinkgineers had built something amazing and it was probably okay to bathe in the success for just a little while. 

Louise was probably the most excited: "This thing might be better than the one Felix owns… we should get water balloons!"

"Maybe not inside, Louise?" Water balloons were always a bad idea inside, but also Tina didn’t want to think about their last fight at the moment. Ignoring things that were said during a certain balloon fight was easier when not remembering them.

"Yeah, right, right, right… OH! this is going to be the best prank EVER!" Louise shouted her excitement, causing the rest to look up at her. "SHUSH everyone! We don’t want to be found out!" 

"But… it’s for a good cause, right?" Rudy sounded skeptical.

"Oh, Rudes! God hearted, regular sized Rudy!" Louise grabbed his face to stare in his eyes. "Of course! Did I ever lie to you?"

"I… I guess not? You aren’t always 100% honest maybe but..." 

"Exactly! I would never lie to you!" She let go of his face, turning away and almost lovingly petting the machine. Rudy had to take a puff from his inhaler.

"It‘s to help me. That is a good prank," Kaylee agreed. She held open the bag for the others to collect the rubber bugs in. 

Tina silently groaned. She still did not like the idea or the prank. She just knew something would go wrong. She was staring at the phone as if the small device would give her an answer about what to do. Instead it just showed her the rubber roaches being catapulted in the air and scattering around the room. 

She had already carefully tried to talk Louise out of this, but then again she was the only one to worry, and she was rarely confrontational against people she didn’t care for. Louise just had a way of brushing off any kind of critique. It was hard to talk to her if she got her mind set on something.

"Hey, Tina!" She looked up from her phone and saw Zeke stepping up to her, a broom in hand. "You watching the video? Can I watch too?"

"Uhm, yeah sure," she started it once more to let Zeke enjoy it in it‘s grainy glory, ignoring the fact that he had to stand near enough that she felt his body heat. "The camera is bad."

"It is," he stepped even closer which caused Tina to hold her breath for a moment. But there was no reason for her to panic. They weren‘t alone and there was no mutual romantic interest in any of them. She still started to sweat. 

"Can we talk when everyone is gone? I need to ask you something. Alone." He asked under his breath so that no one else would hear them. Oh, this was probably bad.

"Yeah, sure."

—

The group had cleaned up, Louise asked the Thinkgineers for a last meeting during recess the next day. Gene and Tina were out now. Their help wasn’t needed anymore. So it would happen. Tomorrow. 

Only thing to do now was waiting for Zeke, while her siblings were still packing up. Tina felt nervous. Even if there was no reason for it. Probably. 

"Hey, T! Thank you for waiting, girl!" 

For a moment Tina was proud of herself for not just shrieking in panic. Instead she just nodded while greeting: "Zeke." 

She had hoped that her own state of mind would get better as soon as he arrived but he seemed at least as nervous as herself and that only caused her to get even more fidgety. They both stayed silent for a heartbeat. It was too much, so Tina decided that they needed to get over this. Whatever this was: "So, what’s up?" 

She was sure her voice sounded fake and tense. 

He took another moment to finally start: "I know this is a lot to ask but try to talk Louise out of this prank."

Now, this was a surprise, and Tina had no clue how to react. This was not what she had expected. Not that she had expected anything. 

"Why do you care?" Tina finally replied and couldn’t keep the curiosity out of her voice. This was fascinating. 

"Look," he suddenly seemed even more nervous. And that intrigued Tina even more too. "The Thinkgineers are a bunch of little nerds, good kids. I try not to be a bad influence, keeping out of their business. It‘s kinda effective in keeping me in check," he chuckled, still nervous. "But Louise has that thing about her that makes people just go along with her schemes. But they don‘t know what it means. Rudy maybe… but I fear that most of them don’t exactly understand what happens if they get caught." 

Tina didn’t answer immediately and stared at him with slightly raised eyebrows. Was that why he had been nervous and edgy, with an almost constant frown the whole time? Not that she had felt like something had been off with Zeke, that would mean that she would have had a close eye on him. 

Wait! He shared her thoughts! And that meant that she wasn’t alone in her opinion and that calmed her down. 

"Again I know this is a lot to ask of you but I…" he continued, still nervous but also not looking directly at her. 

"It’s fine. I agree," Tina answered, her voice now steady.

"Say what now?" The reply was delivered with huge, surprised eyes. 

"I think the same thing. I’m afraid that most of the kids don’t know what pranking with Louise means. I’m worried too."

"Wow, T! That is a relief!" The nervousness was suddenly gone and Zeke seemed very happy about it. 

"Uhm… yeah," She had to avert her eyes for a moment, in hopes that it wouldn’t show how his sudden happiness affected her. "I can’t promise it will work but I’ll keep asking her to stop the plan." 

"Yeah! Of course! Sure! I am just glad we’re on the same page here." The smile was still there with the usual enthusiasm.

"Tina! Are you ready yet?! We are!" 

Again Tina was thankful for her sister's timing. She had almost smiled too: "One moment!" She called over her shoulder, then turned back: "I’ll try my best but no guarantee."

"Sure. Hey, why are you helping your sister if you don’t agree?" 

Without missing a beat Tina turned very serious for a moment: "We’re Belchers. From the womb to the tomb." Then the seriousness dropped again. "See you tomorrow, Zeke." 

Turning, she didn't see the new smile that had appeared on Zeke's face. 

—

In the beginning everything went according to plan.

The Thinkgineers had their final meeting and the catapult was positioned. Lunch rolled around and Tina watched both Louise and Kaylee talking to each other, waiting for the right moment. 

Tina felt tense and wondered if the rest of the group felt the same.They must have because even if they sat at her back – except Gene who also didn’t seem that affected – Tina thought she sensed a prickling sensation that made the hair in her neck stand up. But the overall atmosphere in the cafeteria was normal. Not at all like it was always described in books. The moment before battle, before a catastrophe. Most of the students around didn’t even know what was going to happen. That was why everything seemed so normal. 

She didn’t dare to turn around to look at Zeke, even if that maybe would lift some of the heavy guilt she felt. Tina had tried to stop it but her attempts to get Louise to call off the prank were for naught.It would happen. 

It would _really happen_ ; soon, the rubber cockroaches would be raining down on them.

Or wouldn‘t. There was a hold up, as Zeke put so eloquently. Something was wrong and before any of them could react the whole thing blew up. Not literally, but Louise and Kaylee fought and bumped into the trash cans, revealing the catapult to Mr. Frond.

This was not how Tina had imagined for things to go wrong. It almost escalated when Rudy decided to be a hero and take the whole responsibility, nearly revealing the involvement of the Thinkgineers. But in the end everything went right.

Kaylee would join the Thinkgineers and no one would get into trouble. Hearing the news, Tina let out a huge sigh. Really good news. 

"This will be boring again, now that you three aren’t around anymore," Even if his message itself wasn’t positive, Zeke was obviously relieved how everything turned out in the end.

"You know," Tina sounded thoughtful, watching Kaylee talking to Rudy about the first upcoming meeting. Louise stood beside them, listening in with a strained smile. "I actually don’t think that the Thinkgineers are boring. It’s actually very nice." 

"Why don’t you join then?"

"I don’t have time, also I’m not good with engineering. I just appreciate others who can do it." 

"I see," Again there was a smile on Zeke's face. "But it will still be boring again. I enjoyed working with you, girl."

Once more Tina was saved by a younger friend, because she had no idea how to respond to that. 

"Hey, Zeke! Are you joining us, buddy?" Rudy was very excited and Tina could see Zeke visibly cringe. That moment she felt sorry for him, as well as thankful to have a reason not to answer to his previous comment.

"Your punishment will be over soon. And then you can go back to wrestling Jimmy Jr. and get normal detention," In an attempt to be more supportive, Tina carefully patted Zeke’s shoulder and absolutely didn’t suddenly feel embarrassed, or butterflies in her stomach or the actual muscle in the shoulder. Nothing like that. 

"Thanks, T. See you tomorrow, then," He also pat her hand, before walking over to Kaylee and Rudy. 

Tina continued to watch, as Mr. Frond joined Louise in the door where the Thinkgineers met, trying to ignore the tingling feeling in her hand. 

This was bad. Very bad. There was really only one way to handle this. 

_Ignore it._

**Author's Note:**

> So, that is that. First Tina/Zeke fanfiction. Let's see what comes next. I should return to some other OTPs soon but I can't help but hyping over them atm. 
> 
> Anyway there are a lot of headcanons (many of them based in canon) in this fic, like the thing that Louise is never asking for Rudys help when it's illegal or dangerous. Or that Tina is having a crush on Zeke but trying to ignore it.  
> Anyway, please tell me if I should add any tags! Also, if anything is unclear or confusing, feel free to ask. 
> 
> Last but not least: timeline of the episodes referenced because I'm a stickler: 
> 
> Ep. 34 "Broadcast Wagstaff School News" - in which Zeke doing a solid for Tina (HAH!)  
> Ep. 88 "The Oeder Games" - in which Zeke tells Tina that he likes her for the second time.  
> Ep. 159 "UFO No You Didn't" - in which Tina kissed Zeke when she thought the world would end.  
> Ep. 174 "Boys Just Wanna Have Fungus" - in which Tina gets her new glasses and can see  
> Ep. 184 "A Fish Called Tina" - in which Kaylee has her first appearance as Tinas little fish.  
> Ep. 194 "Prank You for Being a Friend" - in which Kaylee asks Louise to teach her pranking to get taken out of school. ~~(and also Tina is totally describing Zeke with "buff for a poet" as her husband. just saying)~~


End file.
